Who knew donuts could be a source of tactical inspiration? Outside of their delicious pastry goodness, here at P&G, the quintessential and often enjoyed dozen of donuts helped shape what we call The Dirty Dozen.
The Dirty Dozen is a 12-point checklist every one of us uses before hitting send on an email, or passing along a deliverable draft for review. It keeps us sharp. It keeps us accountable. The list sits on each of our desks and is worn from use – as it should be!
It’s dirty, because, well, this is the very base level of standards to which we should adhere. EACH and EVERY thing on this list should be correct EACH and EVERY time. No exceptions or excuses.
We’re adamant and a little salty about this. Why? Because a message or potential impact should never be compromised by carelessness. Seemingly small details are often anything but.
How about you? What are your dirty dozen?
The P&G Dirty Dozen
- Did you re-read out loud for typos and grammatical errors?
- Did you search APStylebook.com for anything you aren’t 100 percent sure about?
- Did you proofread the headline and/or subject line?
- Did you confirm your email is going to the right people?
- Did you double-check the day and date?
- Did you confirm the time?
- Did you count out and calculate any numbers?
- Did you click on all URLs?
- Did you double-check the spelling of names?
- Did you confirm the title and company name based on the person’s email signature or website?
- Did you call the phone number to confirm it?
- Did you confirm the street address based on the organization’s website?
Click here to download P&Gs Dirty Dozen.
